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Photo Gallery: Tattoos, Piercings, and Scarification

Buddhist Monk, Thailand

Photograph by Stephen Shaver/AFP/Getty Images

Tattoos, piercings, and body markings have played roles in many cultures for millennia, serving as identification, protection, and decoration.

Here, a young monk is tattooed with a sharp rod near a Buddhist temple in Thailand. Tattoos are believed to bestow the monks with ancient Khmer prayers and the spiritually protective power of animal images.

Hennaed Hands, India

Photograph by Petra Warner, My Shot

For hundreds of years, women in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia have decorated their bodies with designs painted with a paste made from henna leaves, a practice called mehndi in India. Trendy in recent years, the lacework decorations are part of a tradition of creating designs to ward off evil or declare one’s happiness.

Mursi Woman, Ethiopia

Photograph by Ian Transue, My Shot

A Mursi woman from the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia is adorned with face markings and an ornamental clay lip plate, considered signs of beauty among her people.

Tattooed Man, Canada

Photograph by Neville Elder/Corbis

Tattoos on the face and body of a Montreal man known as Zombie are intended to make him resemble a decomposed corpse. Tattooing is one of the oldest forms of art and is laden with as many different meanings as there are global cultures.

Scarred Woman, Benin

Photograph by Jean-Michel Clajot/Aurora Photos

Scars form a pattern on the abdomen of a young woman in Benin, where such ritual markings may be endured at young age.

Padaung Woman, Thailand

Photograph by Travel Pix Collection/AWL/Aurora Photos

When young, Padaung women are fitted with brass rings to ward off evil spirits. In recent years, human rights groups have expressed concerns about the practice and its exploitation by companies catering to tourists.

Maasai Man, Kenya

Photograph by Nigel Pavitt/AWL/Aurora Photos

Colorful beadwork covers the ear of a Maasai man in Kenya. Both men and women Maasai wear earrings and stretch their earlobes to enhance beauty.

Kuna Woman, Panama

Photograph by Gilles Mingasson/Reportage by Getty Images for National Geographic

Paint adorns the nose of a Kuna woman in Panama. Members of the indigenous Indian tribe strive to retain cultural traditions even as they forge ties with the modern world.

Goth Clubgoer, Italy

Photograph by Stephen Alvarez, National Geographic

A nightclub in Rome, Italy, attracts patrons—like this man with facial piercings and eerie contact lenses—who identify with its Gothic theme.

Dassanech Man, Ethiopia

Photograph by Nigel Pavitt/AWL/Aurora Photos

A Dassanech man’s extensive scarification indicates that he has killed an enemy in battle. Ash rubbed into the wounds causes the distinctive scarring. The Dassanech are one of many tribes that inhabit Ethiopia’s Omo Valley.

Tattoo Artist, Japan

Photograph by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images

One of Japan’s top tattoo artists creates traditional Japanese art on a woman’s back during a cultural performance for the press in Tokyo. The presentation aimed to introduce the historical and cultural underpinnings of tattoo art.